It can be daunting to choose what college and program you want to commit to as a teenager. Choosing now means opening a set of doors for the rest of your life and closing others (until you go back and retrain, at least). This can put a lot of pressure on kids, but with these tips and tricks, you will be able to understand better what direction you want to take your career and even the interesting ways you can use education to work in your dream industry.
Start by Understanding Job Roles in Your Interests
Specific careers are hard to nail down because there are so many, and you and the world are in flux. Rather than try to pick your dream job, it is far better to narrow down your interests to an industry or field. By keeping your options open, you can slowly specialize the further you go.
You could love building things, for example, but not commit to one type of engineering right off the bat until you absolutely have to. There is so much in the world you won’t know about until you are older and have experienced more of it, so keep your options open by starting with your interests and then looking at job roles attached to them.
Choosing the Best Program for Your Interests
The best program may not be the most obvious. If you love theatre, for example, then you may think that choosing a theatre program is the best bet, but that isn’t always the case. If you want to give yourself the best chance at building a career where you can dedicate yourself to the theatre, you may be better off taking a degree in theatre management, prop design, or even engineering.
Think of the hard skills that can really help you further a career in that field. Wanting to be an actor is great, but you don’t need a degree to be one, so what backup would be perfect for you? From editing to producing to even prop design, there are many more technical skills you can learn that can help you work in the industry you love without inhibiting your ambitions to be a creative.
Getting into the Top College of Your Choice
Using those aforementioned tips can help you find the right program that will help you work in the industry that you want by using your own unique approach. From there, it is all about mastering your application. Start first by visiting campusreel.org to understand the admissions requirements and other important statistics like the acceptance rate.
You will need the minimum admissions requirements to get in, though of course getting better grades is an easy way to put yourself at the top of the pile. Depending on how competitive your program is, you will also want to build a resume that shows that you are interested, dedicated, and know exactly how you intend to use that degree to help you in your career.
The good news is that being able to concretely state how you will use a degree to work in the field of your choice is instantly a great way to start a winning admissions essay. Show your passion and your interest, and if you don’t get into your top choice the first time, take the year off to invest in internships, part-time jobs, earning credentials, or working on your own projects, and then apply again the next year.